Despite your best intentions and efforts, do you still fail to keep your New Year’s resolutions? If you said, “Yes”, you are likely missing an overlooked secret to keeping your New Year’s Resolutions.

You are not alone. Research shows that about 50% of all Americans make resolutions. Yet, of those, only about 8% are successful in keeping them.

If you are like most resolution-makers, you choose goals related to health and fitness, finances, or improving your of life. You may want such changes, but still not be successful despite your best intentions.

If you find it difficult to actually keep your resolutions, here are some questions to ask yourself:

Am I making resolutions based upon my “shoulds” and “musts”?

Are my resolutions the same as what everyone else is doing?

Have I made this resolution year after year with no real progress?

Am I still falling short despite an accountability or buddy system, and breaking my goals into small steps?

If you answered “Yes” to any or all of the above questions, you may be missing the overlooked secret to keeping your New Year’s Resolutions. You are likely making them from your “head”, i.e. what you “think” you “should” do.

What’s wrong with that? Well, let me ask you this: do you actually feel good about, and enjoy taking the action required? If not, how likely are you to stick with doing something you don’t like doing, or feel passionate about?

If you don’t feel good about it, you are likely missing the overlooked secret to keeping your New Year’s Resolutions.

What IS that overlooked secret to keeping your New Year’s Resolutions?

Here it is: Following your heart.

If your heart isn’t in the game, you lack the passion, drive, and desire that provide lasting momentum and energy needed to keep you going. Your motivations come from other sources that don’t last, like willpower.

You are created of something greater than your personality self, designed to be and live a certain way YOU-nique to you. Your heart knows what that is, and shows you your path in the form of love, joy and passion.

Positive loving, joyful emotions are life-sustaining Source energy flowing freely, and abundantly within and through you. When you TRULY love what you are doing, it is a sign that you are on your path to living fully aligned with your Purpose.

Align with your Purpose. Follow your Soul Intentions.

Your Soul Intentions for this lifetime are your Purpose. Your heart knows what your Purpose is, and is guiding you with its love, joy, and passion.

You come into this life designed perfectly to live YOUR Purpose. When you set goals aligned with your Purpose, you will find you enjoy accomplishing them and that you have the resources needed to do so.

That doesn’t mean it is always easy because there will likely be some tests to support your growth along the way. But, you will feel less like a square peg in a round hole, and feel less stressed as a result. You will love your life, and feel like your heart is in living it.

The overlooked secret to keeping your New Year’s Resolutions IS following your heart, thus aligning with your Purpose, i.e. your Soul Intentions for this lifetime.

Don’t make resolutions.

That’s right. Don’t pledge to do those cliché things that you always SAY you should/must do, but your heart isn’t in. Isn’t it easier to “do it if your heart is in it”?

You are built and resourced to live your Soul Intentions, and when you attune yourself to, and align yourself with those, you will find you have better results. Set goals aligned with your Soul Intentions instead of making cliché resolutions you think you should.

The common tips and tricks to keeping your resolutions still have value.

Most people benefit from breaking goals down into doable, practical steps. It also helps to celebrate reaching each of those mini milestones.

It can also be helpful to have support in community with others who have similar goals. You can lean on each other and hold each other accountable. You also can benefit from suggestions others find helpful.

Another very useful tip is to focus on the feeling of having accomplished your goal. The feeling is actually the motivator behind it all. The path you take to get there can vary, and the end result may end up being different than the goal you set. What matters is the feeling you have at the end showing you whether you ARE on your path, or not.

Choosing the optimal time for changes can also help you succeed in creating them.

The urge to start fresh, commit to change, and begin anew is natural at this time of year.

It is related to the cycles of light, and dark, and forces greater than you (remember the Rich Spiritual Symbolism in the Holiday Stories ?). It is an optimal time for aligning with your YOU-niqe path, choosing the changes you will make, and setting your plan in motion.

Above all, have fun and be gentle with yourself in creating your plan for 2017. Tune in to, and honor your heart. See what you notice and enjoy the journey.

How do I align with my Soul Intentions?

Meditation and imagery can be powerful tools to assist you in aligning with your Soul Intentions, and choosing your goals. They help you open to the possibilities in your heart, while allowing your “head” to rest in its proper place – out of the way. These are the same skills I teach my coaching clients to develop.

If you need help discovering your Purpose, or aligning with your Soul Intentions, apply for a complimentary Discovery Session today. Transformational life coaching can help you transcend your “shoulds and musts” to discover your heart’s desires and bring them to Life.